《麥田里的守望者》之主人公霍爾頓人物性格之分析

Abstract:This paper focuses on the analysis on the character of Holden in the American novel The Catcher in the Rye from 4 different aspects. This novel was bestseller at that time. Holden was one of the representatives of “the lost generation”， who appeared in the 1960s.

Key words:Holden， pain， spirit， kindhearted， idealist

In this novel， The Catcher in the Rye， the flashback is used to describe the story of Holden Caulfield. Holden quitted from school and lingered in New York for two days and nights. Salinger told the readers Holden’s experience and his complicated feeling. On one side， Salinger described Holden’s spirit of pain， gloom， loneliness， resentment， depression and rebellion etc， which are the typical characteristics of teenagers at that time. On the other side， Salinger criticized the hypocrisy， airs and graces of the adults’ world. This is a marvelous novel. Next， I would analyze the personality of Holden.

1. Holden was a cultivated young man. Actually， he was in senior school. He didn’t like studying and school education at all. But he paid attention to the hygiene and some other living details. For instance， when Ackley just cut his crumby nails over the floor， Holden was patient enough to ask Ackley to cut the nails on the table. For another example， Holden thought Ackley never brushed his dirty teeth and he patiently persuaded him. And Holden also disliked Ackley just squeezed the big pimple on his chin before other people.

Actually， Holden had a good family. In some degree， we can say he was from middle-class family. For his age， he could have a good living and no annoyance at all. But Holden disliked the society and the school education just because he thought the so-called education was 1 and the purpose of the education was to breed them to chase those vanity and fame， which were meaningless in his mind. “All you do is to make a lot of dough and play golf and play bridge and buy cars and drink Martinis and look like a hot-shot.”(Re. Chapter 22) In his deepest heart， he longed for purity， honest， kindness， truth. But the reality was so cruel and showed him the opposite side to him. So he resented it and he was depressed that he belonged to the “l(fā)ost generation”. From his behavior， we can conclude that he gave up everything in his life except those people and affection he cherished such as Jean， Phoebe， his brother D.B.

2. Holden has intensive reverse psychology. He was a senior student. And he was in adolescent and rebellious. Such as， he was aware that his roommate， Stradlater disliked some words. But he would deliberately say such kind of words to irritate Stradlater. Stradlater disliked smoking in the dorm， but Holden would intentionally smoke in the dorm to make him furious. Holden was dispirited and depressed. He was fed up almost everything including school， studying， teachers， classmates， movies etc.

Holden could deal with the problem from different perspectives. For example， when they talk about Stradlater， Ackley thought Stradlater was conceited， but in Holden’s opinion， Stradlater was very generous. So Holden was different from others.

3. Holden was a kind-hearted man. He disliked his roommates and classmates because they had many bad living habits. But he is very kind to them. He disliked Stradlater， but he wrote the composition for him. He liked Jean Gallagher very much who played international chess with him in his childhood. He worried much about Jean for she had an appointment with Stradlater who was regarded as a bad guy. Holden hoped Jean wouldn’t be hurt， but he didn’t want to greet her at all. When he was expelled by Pencey Prep (the school name) he never worried about himself. When he went to visit his history teacher Mr. Spencer， who flunked him in history， he was just afraid that he would hurt Mr. Spencer’s feelings for he knew nothing about history. Because Mr. Spencer was mad about history， and he didn’t like it at all. Holden was too kind to hurt anybody else. When he strolled in the street， he encountered two nuns who were raising donations. Holden immediately donated most of his money to the basket though he was poor. He was kind-hearted and generous， full of love. He showed the great compassion to the people around the world.

4. Holden was an idealist. In his deepest heart， it was full of conflicts of ambition and reality. His ambition was to be the catcher in the field of rye. “Anyway， I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids， and nobody’s around--nobody big， I mean--except me. And I’m standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do， I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff--I mean if they’re running and they don’t look where they’re going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That’s all I’d do all day. I’d just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it’s crazy， but that’s the only thing I’d really like to be. I know it’s crazy.”(Re. Chapter 22)

Why would Holden like to be the catcher in the rye? What’s the symbol of the catcher? In my view， the catcher means those protectors who would protect the pure heart of the children. In Holden’s lives， he just did it. He helped his roommates to get rid of those bad living habits. He worried much about Jean when she had an appointment with Stradlater because he thought Stradlater was bad guy and he worried Jean would be hurt. For his sister， Phoebe， he loved her so much and taught her many things. He missed his brother----Allie and his left-handed fielder’s mitt. Holden would like those children to play freely and happily. But the society was full of danger----like the dangerous cliff. The duty of the catcher was to warn the children and protect them from falling off the cliff. Holden just wanted to be such kind of man.

“How would you know you weren’t being a phony? The trouble is， you wouldn’t.”I said. (re. Chapter 22) Holden thought most people in the society were phonies. So he disliked the adult world at all. But on the other side， he was curious about the adult world. He would like to imitate and behave as an adult to find a whore to accompany him. But he disliked the whores in the hotel. Holden disliked his teacher Mr. Antonlini because he might be a gay. Actually， Holden was explicit that what was right and what was wrong， what were kindness and what sin was. By nature， he could refuse the vicious thing in the life. He couldn’t know how to cope with them but he could escape away from them. He was confused and full of agony while facing the true world. He knew the world was “dirty”， so he would like to protect those children from degenerating. It was difficult for the people to persist in the truth and themselves， but Holden Caulfield just did it. He was great. I think that was why Salinger devoted so many words to description of Holden Caulfield. His daily language was full of dirty words， but he owned a noble heart and spirit. That was so different from those people around him. He was rebellious to the bone. But in some degree， he was reasonable enough to be what kind of man in the future. The world was too dirty to make people speechless. Holden wouldn’t like to say any words. He just wanted to be dumb. And find some girl he loved and stayed with her in the cabin in the woods. They would keep in silence and live together. That was his dream for the future. It was a beautiful picture but couldn’t come true in this novel， because in the end， Holden was ill and stayed at home. Nobody could know the story after that.

In sum， Holden was the representative of the times， the production of the society， and the symbol of the rebellion from the world. He was the children’s shelter from the adult world. He only wanted to be the catcher who protected those kids playing in the rye field from falling off the dangerous cliff. He was so great and ideal. His spirit was perfect.

Reference:

1. THE CATCHER IN THE RYE by J.D Salinger， published by Little， Brown and Company， 2001， Nanking， Yilin Press， 2007